Yaakov Yosef Reinman is an American
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
and writer, historian, and scholar. His monographs and articles have appeared in many
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish periodicals and his study of
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
ic contractual law is a text used in
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
s throughout the world. In authoring his ''Ruach Ami'' series, he writes under the pen name Avner Gold.
Reinman is the author of the ''
sefer'' ''Shufra Dishtara'', an analytical study of the philosophy of Talmudic contractual law, which is utilized as a text in yeshiva studies. He also co-authored the book ''One People, Two Worlds: A Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi explore the issues that divide them'' with
Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
Rabbi
Ammiel Hirsch. A fluent speaker of several languages, Reinman has also become known as a translator for ancient Jewish texts into English.
He is a descendant of the
Narol Hasidic dynasty. His first wife was the former Shlomtze Rubin of Brooklyn. He lives in Lakewood NJ with his wife Zvia, formerly of Los Angeles.
Reinman lives in
Lakewood Township, New Jersey
Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+45.5 ...
.
''Ruach Ami'' series
In authoring the ''Ruach Ami'' series of
historical novels
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ...
, Reinman uses the
pen name Avner Gold.
The ''Ruach Ami'' series focuses on the plight of the
Jewish people of Europe during the middle 17th century. Although the central characters mostly hail from Poland, the series detours to many other European countries including Turkey, Spain, Austria, France, the Netherlands and the Germanic states.
There are 12 books in the Ruach Ami series:
The Promised Child
This book, one of Reinman's first, is among the shortest and most straightforward of the series. Not much attention is paid to developing the character's personalities and the participants are often one-dimensional; either extremely good or drastically evil. the lack of "gray" characters is a recurring theme in the series, although it becomes less and less pronounced with each passing book. The book is clearly meant as a story in itself, although it also sets the stage for the books that follow.
The promised child follows Mendel Pulichever, a childless rabbi in the fictitious Polish town of Pulichev. After hoping and praying for many years, he is finally blessed with a baby, whom he names Shloime (nicknamed Shloimele by his mother). Shloime subsequently turns into a brilliant little boy and becomes the toast of the town and the heir apparent to Mendel's job as rabbi of the city. Unfortunately, the boy is kidnapped by a local priest, Zbignew Mzlateslavsky, who is a bitter man, jealous of Mendel's happiness. All of Mendel's efforts to search for the boy are fruitless as he is hidden in an orphanage and is brought up as a Catholic. Eventually, Shloime, who grows up under the name Gregor Tal, attains the rank of
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
within the
Catholic church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and has little memory of his early childhood.
Some 20 years later, the same Priest Mzlateslavsky has convinced the Cardinal in charge of the
Krakow, Poland region that the Jews of the city should be expelled. The Cardinal decrees that there be a debate between a Rabbi and a representative of the Church on the subject of the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
and that the Jews would be expelled if, in his judgment, the Jewish representative loses the debate. After Mendel is chosen as the Jewish representative, Mzlateslavsky arranges for Shloime to be the Church representative, secretly savoring the idea that Shloime will defeat his own father and cause the expulsion of the Jews of Krakow.
Unfortunately for Mzlateslavsky, "Gregor" (disguised as a Jew) goes to Pulichev to scout his opponent. While talking to Mendele, the two discuss their pasts and eventually realize the truth - that they are father and son. Together, they hatch a plan to expose Mzlateslavsky at the debate. At the debate, "Gregor" announces what has happened and begs the Cardinal to spare the Jews of Krakow. Mzlateslavsky is disgraced and the Cardinal, calling the incident a manifestation of
divine providence cancels the order of expulsion. Shloime and Mendel then return to Pulichev as father and son.
The story seems to be influenced by the legend of
Jewish pope Andreas.
''A revised and expanded edition of this book was reprinted in 2001 (126 pages).''
The Dream
The Dream follows Shloime Pulichever after the events described in The Promised Child. Pulichever has traveled from Pulichev to study the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
and learn more about his Jewish heritage. When he returns to his parents’ home, Pulichever finds his mother ill and a plot afoot to discredit the Jews of the city. Eventually, it is revealed that the discredited priest Zbignew Mzlateslavsky had been poisoning Pulichevers mother and was responsible for anti-semitic sentiments which had been blossoming in the region. Although a
third-person narrative
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...
, the book follows Shloime as an individual throughout the story and the reader knows as much and only as much as does Shloime as the story progresses. Like The Purple Ring (the 6th book of the series) but unlike the most of the other books in the series, this book is entirely fictional, has very little actual history and reads more like a suspense/mystery than most of the dramas played out in the series.
The Year of the Sword
The third book in the series turns to a much darker era in Jewish history; the
Cossack uprising
The Cossack uprisings (also kozak rebellions, revolts) were a series of military conflicts between the cossacks and the states claiming dominion over the territories the Cossacks lived in, namely the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian ...
of
Bohdan Khmelnytsky and his hordes, during which the
Cossacks murdered as many as 100,000 Jews. While attending a conference in northern Poland, Shloime and his stepson are forced to run and are almost trapped by the Cossack invasion. The story follows their exploits and they seek to survive one of the worst
pogroms of all time.
Twilight
Twilight, the fourth book in the series, is unlike the other books in the series in that it is almost entirely meant as a transitional book, linking the early books in the series (through the Cossack revolution) with the later books in the series that cover historical events such as the
Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi (; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676), also spelled Shabbetai Ẓevi, Shabbeṯāy Ṣeḇī, Shabsai Tzvi, Sabbatai Zvi, and ''Sabetay Sevi'' in Turkish, was a Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turk ...
affair and the Spanish Inquisition. The book itself features a relatively insignificant plot of the marriage of Shloime Pulichever's stepson, but it mainly serves to explain to the reader of the series the fates and futures of various characters introduced in the series' first three books and to introduce some of those who will be key characters in future books.
The Imposter
This book follows the adventures of
Shabbesai Tzvi, from his early days in
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
, Turkey, and follows his exploits in claiming to be the Jewish
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
. Unlike the other books in the series, which feature fictitious plots (albeit against historical backdrops), this book straddles the border between fiction and non-fiction. Although the author admits taking some poetic license at times and although there are a few fictional characters in the book, the vast majority of the information and incidents described in the book are historically accurate, based primarily on the descriptions found in
Jacob Emden
Jacob Emden, also known as Ya'avetz (June 4, 1697 April 19, 1776), was a leading German rabbi and talmudist who championed Orthodox Judaism in the face of the growing influence of the Sabbatean movement. He was acclaimed in all circles for his ...
s' ''Toras Hakanaus'', and
Jacob Sasportas
Jacob ben Aaron Sasportas (1610 – April 15, 1698), was a Rabbi, Kabbalist, and anti-Sabbatean. He was the father of Isaac ben Jacob Sasportas.
Sasportas was born at Oran. He became rabbi successively of Tlemcen (at the age of twenty-four ...
s' ''Zizith Novel Zevi''.
The Purple Ring
The Purple Ring is about the effects the Shabbesai Tzvi debacle had on the Jews in far-off Poland. A group of influential people in the Pulichev area conspire against the local Jews, using the willingness of the Jews to follow Tzvi as the Jewish king as “proof” of their disloyalty to the Polish crown. The book is titled after the name this cabal gives itself.
The Polish general Jan Sobieski (later to become King
John III Sobieski of Poland) plays a small but crucial role in the story.
Envoy from Vienna
This book is a fictionalization of the efforts of the local Jews to prevent their expulsion from Vienna (in 1758).
The Marrano Prince
Leaving behind the Pulichever family almost entirely, this book follows the fictional
Marrano Don Pedro Manuel Luis Domínguez de
Monteverde
Monteverde is the twelfth canton of the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. It is located in the Cordillera de Tilarán mountain range. Roughly a four-hour drive from the Central Valley, Monteverde is one of the country's major ecotourism des ...
y Saluria (the latter estate being fictional) through his arrest and prosecution by the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
.
The Long Road to Freedom
In 2008, Gold returned to the series with ''The Long Road to Freedom'', published by
ArtScroll. (Previous volumes in the series had been published by CIS.) The revived series is now called “The Strasbourg Saga” after the rabbinical family name of the series, who had in previous books been known as the Pulichever family. (It is possible that the true family name is Strasbourg and that Pulichever is merely derived from the place of residence of one branch of the family.
''The Long Road to Freedom'' follows the Domínguez family after the martyrdom of Don Pedro in ''The Marrano Prince''.
Sebastián Domínguez, a young prisoner in northern Spain is forced to convert to Christianity or else be burnt alive, so Sebastián escapes with the help of his friend, dressed up as a holy hermit. Sebastián's father is then burnt alive on a stake. Afterwards, Sebastián is caught again but is released after threats and arguments and war and agreements between the Jews and the Christians.
John III Sobieski, now king of Poland, also plays a role in this story, during the
Battle of Vienna.
Scandal in Amsterdam
Continuing from ''The Long Road to Freedom'', this book follows the Domínguez family as they attempt to integrate into the Marrano community of Amsterdam.
The Fur Traders
This book is a direct continuation of ″Scandal in Amsterdam", In this book Sebastián, Amos and Immanuel go to America.
On the day before Chanukah in the year 1684, a shocking event takes place in the Bais Medrash in Amsterdam. The event leads to private accusations and confrontations and a public uproar that threatens to change the course of many lives. The complications that arise send the central characters on a hair-raising story across the Atlantic Ocean and into the wilds of Indian country on upstate New York.
The story in the Bais Medrash
hapter 2is based on an event that the author actually witnessed.
Midnight Intruders
The two men fled through the devastated Jewish quarter of Budapest as the blazing cannons of the Austrian army rained down death and destruction. One of these men was Rabbi Tzvi Ashkenazi, the young genius who would one day become known as Chacham Tzvi, the gadol hador, the greatest rabbi of his generation. The other was Rabbi Amos Strasbourg. Together, they experienced tragedy and mortal danger, and the friendship they formed lasted a lifetime.
''Midnight Intruders'' follows the parallel trajectories of
Chacham Tzvi
Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi ( he, צבי אשכנזי; 1656 – May 2, 1718), known as the Chacham Tzvi after his responsa by the same title, served for some time as rabbi of Amsterdam. He was a resolute opponent of the followers of the fal ...
's stormy life and insidious plots of
Nechemiah Chayun, an outspoken disciple of the messianic impostor Shabbesai Tzvi. The story reaches its harrowing climax when the two
clash in Amsterdam, resulting in one of the greatest communal uproars in the annals of European Jewry. Neighbor turns against neighbor, friend against friend and brother against brother as the raucous battles spill over from the synagogues into the streets. This fast-moving book features adventure, drama, mystery, conflict and, above all, a riveting and inspiring portrait of one of the greatest rabbis of modern Jewish history.
Midnight Intruders is an exciting new phase in the ongoing Strasbourg Saga as it presents for the first time a gadol of such stature. The narrative of this historical novel blends the documented facts of Chacham Tzvi's activities with those of fictional characters. The information about Chacham Tzvi is drawn from Megillas Sefer, the autobiography of his son, Rabbi Yaakov Emden, whose own story
t is claimedwill be featured in forthcoming volumes of the Saga.
Book collaboration
In 2000 a literary agent introduced Rabbi Reinman to Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, a
Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
rabbi and executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA),
with the idea of collaborating on a book airing the Orthodox and Reform viewpoints on various issues. Their
email
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...
correspondence over the next 18 months resulted in the book ''One People, Two Worlds: A Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi explore the issues that divide them''. The book was hailed by the religious left as a breakthrough in Orthodox recognition of religious pluralism, while generating criticism in Orthodox circles for Reinman's willingness to conduct an official rabbinic dialogue with Reform.
The book was denounced by the
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually pr ...
of
Agudath Israel of America and the heads of
Beth Medrash Govoha
Beth Medrash Govoha ( he, בית מדרש גבוה, Sephardi pronunciation: ''Beth Midrash Gavoha''. lit: "High House of Learning"; also known as Lakewood Yeshiva or BMG) is a Haredi Jewish Lithuanian ''yeshiva'' in Lakewood Township, New Jerse ...
,
Lakewood, New Jersey
Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+45.5% ...
, where Reinman received his rabbinic ordination. Reinman subsequently pulled out of a 14-city promotional tour after two appearances, leaving Hirsch to continue the tour on his own.
References
External links
''The Promised Child'' online''Ruach Ami Series returns- Artscroll''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinman, Yosef
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Writers from New Jersey
American Haredi rabbis
People from Lakewood Township, New Jersey
Jewish American writers
21st-century American Jews